Steve Plater 2007

Tenth Place for Steve at the TT

© Keith Fitton 2007 Steve rode to a fantastic 10th place in his debut race at the Isle of Man Centenary TT festival on Monday being the top newcomer to complete the Superbike TT with the added bonus of receiving a silver replica TT trophy at his first attempt around the 37.73-mile public roads course.

The race should have been run on Saturday but after a delay officials eventually decided to call off the race because of worsening weather conditions.

Monday morning saw racing again delayed for two hours but eventually get underway at 12.45pm.

Steve took the first lap at a steady pace being 20th fastest rider but upped his game as he grew in confidence and was clocked through the speed trap at Sulby as third fastest rider with a speed of 185.4mph on lap two.

Then came the fuel stop at the end of lap two with the Optoma Yamaha pit crew pulling out all the stops to get the bike refuelled and set Steve back on his way around the course.

Lap three saw Steve move up into 13th place and progress to 10th at the end of the fourth lap after a further stop for fuel.

The final two laps went well for Steve who was recorded doing a speed of 187.5mph through the Sulby speed trap on lap five and then posting his fastest lap of the race on lap six with an average speed of 123.141mph over the 37.73 miles.

“That was spot on,” said Steve. “I am well happy with that. I learned quite a lot through the race and found some different lines by following some of the faster guys. I got caught out twice; once at May Hill when someone held up a chalkboard for me, I was so busy reading it that I was distracted missed my turning point on the first lap. Then I made a mistake at the 13th milestone, which is not the place to do that.

“I got on ok with the pit stops, I am used to those having done quite a bit of endurance racing but found them not really long enough. I really could have done with a bit more time to have a cup of tea and slice of cake!” he quipped.

© Doublered 2007 “I wasn’t actually aiming for any position for this race, I had top 15 in my mind but really wasn’t too bothered. I just wanted to finish the race using it as a few more laps of practise. I am really pleased with this top ten but I have no real worries about trying to beat that next time out. I just want to learn more and more this year.”